


If I Fall, I'm Dragging You Along With Me

by Zylafone



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Fic in the Time of Quarantine, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zylafone/pseuds/Zylafone
Summary: Jack and Gabe might not like it very much, but they are both thoroughly trapped in the Soldier Enhancement Program. It's difficult, but perhaps leaning on each other could help. Plus once they get out they'll be heroes and set for life, right?
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Kudos: 3





	1. Before SEP - Gabriel Reyes

The best decisions Gabriel Reyes ever made were late at night. Anything south of midnight his mind cleared up enough to do make difficult decisions he didn't like to commit to in the daylight hours.

It was one such night, just shy of 2 AM that he noticed a strange email.

He was trying to ignore the fact he was getting a tattoo from his half-sister’s girlfriend, Mary the purple-haired tattoo artist. She was super nice but nervous enough around a tattoo gun to make him uncomfortable. He had oozed confidence and ignored it since he knew he was underpaying. 

The email was enough to forget the pain in his shoulder blade. It looked like a debt collector looking for his mom. A second inbox appeared when he probed around, confused. His mom had recently logged into her email on his phone while hers was getting serviced. He wondered if it was safe to open it or if she would suspect something if the email was read. Before he had time to think about it, Michael materialized in front of him and stared down at his phone.

“Hey, back off,” he said, mock offended, pushing hard on her shoulder. He didn’t want her to see it, in case it was real.

“It’s them, isn’t it? I know already,” she responded, deathly serious. She pushed his arm to the side and stepped closer to read it.

“I didn’t know that she owed money. Could it be the house? We’re all grown up now, I expected her to sell it by now,” he commented as they poured over the details.

“Oh fuck, she’s in debt?” Michael whispered, shocked.

“What the fuck were you talking about then?” Gabe hissed back, pushing away again with more meaning. She wasn’t delicate by any means and she didn’t even turn defensive. She just brushed him off and stepped closer again.

“Oh, I was just lying. I saw the look on your face and had to know more,” she giggled, guilty as all hell.

“God, you’re the worst. I need to stop spending time with you.” Gabe commented, mildly annoyed. He turned back to his phone but intentionally angled it away from her to signal that she was done.

“I try my best,” she chuckled, but she glanced away and her face turned dark. “I don’t think she can sell it. It’s the location, Gabe. That neighborhood isn’t great and with the housing developments kicking off, who knows how long that block will last. They’re talking about turning the whole neighborhood into a dead zone.” Their voices were fully hushed now. Gabe would have preferred to switch to Spanish, especially on this side of town where nobody could roll their r’s if you paid them, but Michael was too many years younger and lived with her dad too much to keep up. Her Spanish was awkward and fumbling. She only used it to curse and around her dad’s family simply because they didn't understand a word of it. Gabriel never understood why she caused such problems for him. He was nice to her and their family for no real reason. Michael was an accident through and through and their mom and him never even tried to be in a serious relationship. Michael was always in trouble, but her dad always bailed her out and never even told their mom about it. 

“Michael, let’s get out of here to talk,” he urged. The shop was full of people he knew enough to avoid. Big guys with razor short hair, face tattoos, and patches on their sleeves that were not meant as a fashion statement. He didn’t expect trouble since he was on a break after his first assignment in the military and was wearing a shirt that marked him as such, but Michael had a true knack for causing problems.

“But Gabe, I was hoping to hang out here with Mary for the night,” she pleaded. He was crashing at a friend’s place since their mom’s house was too small and he lost his private bedroom right to one of his sisters the second he went to basic training. She was asking him to lie to their mother, which he had done for her before, but he needed to get to the root of this email and was annoyed she didn't care. He was also a little hurt that he had barely seen her and his leave was almost up.

“Michael, you saw that email, what are you going to do? Forget it?” He argued quietly. She sighed but nodded in agreement with him. 

“24-hour coffee?” She asked, grabbing her keys. Gabe hated it when she drove, but his license needed to be renewed and he had been too lazy to deal with it yet.

“You better not kill me,” he joked with a playful shove as they walked out the door.

“Hey! Is that man bothering you, little girl?” One of the men yelled, stepping out of the tattoo shop. Gabriel started cursing under his breath in Spanish.

“No, sir, this is my younger sister, Michael,” Gabe answered, laying on the military etiquette with his back straightening out of instinct.

“That true, girly?” the man asked, suspicious.

“Yeah, of course, don't you see the resemblance?” she joked, but the man practically radiated danger. Gabe was sure he was either going to ask Michael out himself or get pissed off that she cursed at him. Mary noticed they were having trouble leaving, and looked like she was about to yell for someone.

“Michael, leave it,” Gabe grumbled. 

“You’re rude, do you know that?” he said, raising his voice and taking a step towards them. Gabe could see a shirtless man appear from the back of the tattoo shop, heading towards the door. Mary was already at the door.

“Hey, that’s my girlfriend, you need to back the fuck off,” Mary threatened the man. He spun around. The shirtless man from the back of the tattoo parlor moved Mary to the side.

“We got a problem here?” The shirtless man demanded.

“Michael, can I get a time check?” Gabe asked, wary. Michael didn’t bother responding and turned tail and ran towards her car in a lot down the street. Gabe hadn’t expected it and had to scramble to catch up. He was in shape already thanks to the military, but Michael’s reflexes were unmatched. They arrived at the car, stumbled in, and locked the doors. Michael sped out of the lot and the opposite way of the shop in record speed. They both stared at the mirrors watching a brawl begin.


	2. Before SEP - Jack Morrison

Jack Morrison loved waking up to the darkness and silence of the very early morning. His parents probably weren’t awake yet so it was still peaceful. When his dad was younger he made everyone wake up before the sun rose, but he was starting to slow down and show his age. 

Jack walked down the stairs as carefully as possible. The aging wood was often very creaky and he didn’t want to wake them up. 

He started the coffee machine. It was a simple machine aimed at older folks. It used actual buttons instead of the fancy touch screens. He preferred the ones with more choices. He liked the grocery stores stacked with products he didn’t recognize and labels in languages he hadn’t heard yet. Sometimes he didn’t want to be a farm boy in Indiana. Sometimes he wanted to do more with his life than battle with the people trying to buy their land. And watching the machines patrol the fields didn’t bring him any joy anyway. His father still expected him to skip college to take over the farm. 

He loitered around, digging through the cabinets for something to eat. He gave up when the coffee machine clicked and unlocked the pitcher. He poured some coffee into a novelty mug someone probably gave them. It had a little turtle at the bottom that was meant to be visible as you drank, but it was drowned by the dark liquid. 

Jack took a long drink and then started heading towards the shed to get food for the cats. They were the half-feral kind that only came inside when there was a particularly nasty storm. His mom liked them and Jack always pitied them. 

From there he went to the coop to let the chickens out to graze for the day. They only had a dozen or so hens and they were more of a hobby than a business venture. The rooster was a pain in the ass and he never saw the point in keeping it around. They weren't planning on leaving the eggs long enough to hatch. 

After all that was dealt with, he tried to quietly go back inside when the radio jumped to life with loud crackling. Jack practically leaped out of his skin and scrambled towards it to try to turn it off. It was a wasted effort because his phone in his pocket roared to life with an alarm he didn’t recognize. His parents’ phones upstairs started up not long after and his dad stormed down the stairs. 

“What’s going on?” Jack asked, trying to put the news up on their television in the living room. The radio was running through an emergency broadcast that was spitting numbers and instructions about staying indoors. His father threw open the front door. Jack looked out the window, but the field looked normal. After some careful thought, he realized the monitoring machines were frozen in place instead of patrolling and taking their readings. Finally, Jack got to the channel he wanted and the room filled with flashing lights. 

They were calling it the Omnic Crisis.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is much appreciated! 
> 
> Honestly, kudos and comments are what make me update faster. If someone wants to read it, I'll write it.


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